Notes / Commercial Description:
Stout is a Porter gone mad. In fact the style was known as "Stout Porter" well into the 19th century. Using extra-darkly roasted grains means chocolate and coffee flavours are more intense, and the sweetness that one finds in Porter is lacking.

From a 50cl bottle into a snifter
Best Before April 2015
Brewed with chocolate wheat

APPEARANCE: A clear brown pour yields a 1 ½ finger, medium looking, very light brown head with good retention. Clear bistre brown body with higher levels of carbonation evident. Head fades to a half wisp and clings to the sides of the glass. A splotchy wisp remains with falling dots of lacing.

SMELL: Milder nose with lightly roasted notes, cacao, and some caramel malts as well. Hints of sweet cream in the mix too. Some nice elements, but simply too mild.

TASTE: More flavorful than the nose had advertised. Lightly roasted with caramel sweetness and some licorice up front, and then decent cocoa powder at the swallow. Medium but lingering finish of cocoa, light roasted flavors, some sweet caramel and hints of bitter coffee as well.

PALATE: Medium-lighter body with medium levels of carbonation. Creamy enough, goes down fine and finishes slightly dry on the palate.

OVERALL: Nothing special. The aroma was especially weak, unfortunately. The flavor picked up the slack a little, though even there it was unmemorable. Nothing wrong with this one per se, just nothing all that right about it either. Pass and try something else.

Bottle design doesn't stand out among other local breweries like Muskoka and Beau's, and the lack of a labelled bottlecap makes it seem rather amateur.

Nice dark colour, but barely any head even when I tried to force one and it died very quickly. Toasted brown bread, chocolate, and coffee flavours. Not a particularly complex flavour but enjoyable and a nice change.

500ml bottle purchased as a single from the LCBO booth at the Toronto Royal Winter Fair.

Poured into an imperial pint glass, completely still, over the barely translucent dark brown brew. A few bubbles meander around the surface, and there is a teeny bit of small-bubbled lacing. Aroma is rich dark malts.

Taste is dark sweetness to start, some oatmeal in the middle, and a slight tartness to the close. Mouthfeel is kind of thin, and smooth in a flat beer way, and drinkability is okay, in the it goes down easy, but again, not in an impressive manner. This is not all it was cracked up to be.

Pint bottle picked up at the LCBO; best before September 2012. I really liked this brewery's pale ale, and that is really the main reason I was curious about this one.

Pours a beautiful thick, pitch-black colour, topped with slightly more than a finger of foamy, creamy beige head. Retention isn't great, but to be fair it was a weak pour and it was probably served a bit cold. Smudges of sticky lacing stick to the inside of the glass, and a soapy beige film remains on the surface. Lovely, rich aroma of dark roasted malts, coffee, chocolate and toffee. Mostly sweet, but a little dry, and very enjoyable.

Highly approachable, enjoyable flavour, though maybe a bit less intense than the nose led me to believe. Roasted malts with a bit of a nutty feel, with more of the coffee grounds and dark chocolate notes from the nose. Slight dark fruit flavour as well, but chocolate and toffee are more dominant. Just a faint hint of smoke toward the finish, which is malty and bittersweet. Solid medium body given the ABV, with a very smooth, slick feel in the mouth. Reasonably drinkable, although two bottles would probably be my maximum for one night.

Final Grade: 3.95, and B+ is a grade that deserves at least some praise. Black Creek Stout is a tasty dark brew, and I have yet to try a disagreeable beer from these guys. It is evident that these people know what they're doing, and that the same level of care and expertise went into brewing this stout as was used for their pale ale.

This is definitely worth a try, but given the price and relative heft-of-body, probably isn't a great session choice for most people. As far as OCB stouts go, this is a very respectable choice that I will probably imbibe again some time.

A - Poured medium to dark brown and settled black with a small amount of light brown head that very quickly disappeared.

S - Roasted malts, nuttiness, chocolate and a mild bitterness that is accompanied by the big sweetness of the chocolate and brown sugar.

T - Sweet roasted malts with chocolate and nutty flavours and a touch of smoke. There is an overall sweetness from dark caramel/brown sugar and milk chocolate that is accompanied by a nice dry bitterness.

Upon pouring this bottle from the LCBO into my pint glass a 1/2 finger head bubbled to the top of this deep brown brew with mahogany highlights. Fine short lived lace caressed the glass and a one finger head could be easily generated from a quick swirl of the glass.

The scent is roasted malt, sweet dark bread, and grassy hops.

The taste follows the nose with dark fruit and baker's chocolate notes coming through as it warmed. The hops profile took on pleasant herbal characteristics as I got to the bottom of the glass. In my last few swigs I also noted the presence of hard water minerals.

This brew is light to medium bodied with little carbonation. It is silky smooth, dry, with a sour bitterness. It is creamy and as its temperature rose some hard water came through.

Bottle: Poured a black color stout with a large brown foamy head with good retention and light lacing. Notes of light roasted malt with light black chocolate are nice. Taste is a balanced mix between some roasted malt with light black chocolate notes. Body is about average with good carbonation. Well brewed with good drinkability factor though doesn’t provide anything I haven’t seen before.

Appearance - The beer pours a black/brown colour with a huge size fizzy light brown coloured head. I can't see much carbonation due the darkness of the beer and there is some good lacing on the sides of the glass. The head lasted for 5 minutes before it was gone.

Smell - Chocolate, malts, smoke, roasted nuts

Taste & Mouth - The beer has a below average amount of carbonation and I can taste chocolate mixed with malts and a roasted/smoke taste. There is also a bit of a caramel/almond flavour. The beer ends with a sweet roasted chocolate malt aftertaste.

Overall – Perhaps just a tad too much on the sweet side. I enjoyed it but I really couldn't drink more that 1 in a sitting. For my money, there are better options out there.

Pours a thick, opaque black with ruby tinges around the edges when held up to the light. The head is relatively small and gets retained as a nice, fothy collar.

Thick aroma of smoked wood and roasted grains with a nutty backing. A soft chocolate smell also comes through, along with hints of coffee and dark fruit after warming. Very smooth and appealing.

Tastes of thick, roasted chocolate malts and burnt coffee, with a defined oak-like wood flavour and a hint of smoke. The finish is very dry and bitter.

Full-bodied and thick with a low carbonation, but still delivers a nice pop on the front of the tongue. Takes on a heavy bread character, but the aftertaste is quite clean with a slight smokey and earthy note.

Very nice effort, though a bit heavy to consider having more than one or two of. Will pick up again if it continues to be bottled and I'd like to see more from this brewery.

Pour is black with a large tan head, lots if lacing on the glass. Nose is toasted almonds, light coffee, cocoa. Taste is similar; almond upfront with a burnt coffee note in the back. Grainy, wheat, roasted beans. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, very dry, too much so.
Overall, never tasted a stout like this before. Seems unbalanced, almond is overbearing, too nutty and unsmooth.

Bottle form the LCBO, 500ml into a pint glass. A stout "brewed with chocolate wheat." Notches are off on the label, but I', going to guess this is Best before May 2012.

Pours a very dark brown, almost black with some clarity around the edges of a deep amber/mahogany hue. Light brown head with some retention and a little lace. Nose of dark chocolate, roasty coffee grain notes, and some bready/cracker qualities, almost resembling that of a chocolate wafer. Taste has more of these bready and chocolate wafer-like notes, toasty malts, milk chocolate with some roasty coffee notes again. Dry and toasty finish. Not sure if I'm actively picking up any wheat notes, so if they are there, they are quite subtle. Some characteristic Black Creek hop flavour as well, in true English style. Medium carbonation with a touch of grittiness in the mouthfeel, medium body with moderate drinkability. A nice dry stout, and one of the better examples I've had in the province. And certainly the best thing Black Creek has done.

The beer is black as the 8 ball except it shows just a little bit of brown edging along its sill when held against the light. Although there's no chance of any light getting through even there, mind you. The thin, asphalt coloured strands of foam look like the veins of early morning frost that settle onto windowpanes in the wintertime.

This aroma is what I just assume every pub in Ireland smells like. It has the distinctive smell of roasted barley much like, though much more vivid than, that of Guinness. The simple bouquet is complimented by strong notes of coffee and chocolate and just a little bit of chimney soot. Clearly good ingredients were used.

There may be nothing more gratifying than taking your first big gulp from a pint of dry, roasty, malty Irish stout. If workplaces are going to recognize coffee and cigarette breaks then I say we lobby for stout breaks - a couple pints of this stuff would break the work day up nicely and keep me satisfied on even the most stressful of days.

And it has nothing to do with the alcohol! Stouts like this aren't gratifying because of their intoxicating properties - which, you must admit, are rather modest at 5% - but rather for their heartiness and coffee and chocolate flavours. This one may be a tad thin but I think any stout (certainly Guinness) drinker will find what they're looking for here.

As it often goes for things like song melodies or baking recipes, sometimes the simplest beer is the best. There's no bells or whistles to Black Creek Stout but it can be every bit as enjoyable - albeit in a much different way - as anything aged in bourbon barrels. For some this might be a bit lacking, but for the average drinker it should suit them just fine.

Cask enjoyed at the brewpub. The porter stopped up , this newly labelled. A significant woodiness, I believe purposfully done, that adds to interest.A wee roast in aroma. Virtually no head, mildly natural carbonation. Dark colour. Chocolate malt, a bit on the sweet side, drier in the finish.